Thursday, October 18, 2012

I've received a lot of questions about my Crochet Granny Stripe Afghan Tutorial so I've decided to rewrite the pattern and try and take some better photos. In my other tutorial I started the first row differently than this one, and I think this one looks better.

The granny stripe afghan beginning chain should be a multiple of 3 plus 2. For a test piece I've chained 32 (3 X 10 + 2). Turn and single crochet in second chain from hook where you see the arrow and in each chain. You will have 31 stitches.

Your row will end with two double crochets in the last stitch (because you started with 2 DC).

Chain 3 and turn.

Do a double crochet cluster (3 double crochets) in each gap from the row below. Continue across the row ending with 1 double crochet in the top of the last double crochet from the previous row.

If you start your row with two double crochets, you will end with two double crochets. If you start with one double crochet, you will end with one. Each row alternates. The next row will start with two double crochets.

That's it. Those rows repeat over and over. You can change colors after the first two rows, after one row, or the entire afghan can be made from all one color. I have changed colors every two rows.

This is how I change colors. I know that most people say to leave two loops of the old color of your double crochet on your hook and attach your new color by pulling through the two loops on the hook. But I have had too many ends of blankets come undone by doing that. So I knot off the old color and tie the new color on with a knot.

Pull a loop through the gap.

Chain 3.

Do a double crochet in the same gap.

Do 3 double crochets in each gap across the row.

End this row with 2 double crochets in the last gap (because you started the row with 2 DCs).

Chain 3 and turn.

Continue with 3 DCs in each gap across the row.

End the row with 1 DC in the top of the stitch below. Turn your work and tie on the next color and repeat.

How many to put in the beginning chain?

How many you chain to start depends a lot on what weight yarn you are using, size of hook, how tight or loose you crochet. I mostly use worsted weight yarn and an I hook. You can make a test chain and measure it to see how many stitches you have per inch and then figure out how many to chain to start your blanket. This is just a guess as to how many to chain for different bed sizes. The bed measurements in the chart below are conventional mattress sizes and areTOP OF MATTRESS ONLY.

BED SIZEBED MEASUREMENTAPPROXIMATE NUMBER TO CHAIN

Crib 28" X 52" 92

Twin 39" X 75" 125

Full 54" X 75" 170

Queen 60" X 80" 188

King 76" X 80" 233

After you do a few rows on your test piece, you will see that it is the same two rows over and over. I hope these photos help to better explain the math and how to begin your own Crochet Granny Stripe Afghan. If you have any questions, please write me at lakrug@comcast.net.

LuAnn, thanks so much for the tutorial, the original and this one, on the granny strip. I have about twenty inches to go yet on mine and if it weren't for your instructions I probably wouldn't have even attempted it.

Hi, My name is Sandy, and I love your instructions. I was just wondering....there isn't a right or a wrong side? I started it, said wait a minute!! lol...thought I better check with you! Thanks, and please let me know. heartsofthyme@hotmail.com

There is a RIGHT side and a WRONG side.......Your first and subsequent ODD numbered rows will be the RIGHT side showing towards you. The EVEN numbered rows (eg. 2nd, 4th, 6th...) will be the WRONG side facing you. Once you've crocheted a few rows you'll notice the difference. Does that make sense?

I agree with Joan & Anonymous..... Your tutorials are crystal clear and sooooo much easier to follow than other books, patterns, etc. I know I started crocheting back in the early '80's (way before the Internet! lol) and unless you bought the children's ABC book to knit/crochet, a lot of the books out there were just too complicated. Poorly written with crappy black and white photos. Big thank you, LuAnn!! I look forward to many more of your tutorials!! Keep up the GREAT WORK!!! Laurie from BC, Canada

Hi LuAnn!! Working hard on my stripe granny!! Almost finished....I was going to make it shorter....but think I will keep going....I just want it to be a nice sized throw.. Thanks for you patience with me....should be finished crocheting it this weekend....including the weaving o the ends.....and the trim! Maybe a nice picture for you then! We shall see how the rest of the weekend goes.....Sandy

Thank you for the great instructions! I saw your first tutorial and started before looking at this one....I adjusted by doing multiples of 3 minus 1 and you get the same thing as multiples of 3 plus 2... :o)On my second blanket now even though my first isn't *quite* finished! Christine

Hi AmberI don't think the type of yarn of size of hook matters. If you are using a smaller hook and thinner yarn, you will have to measure to make sure the blanket is the size that you want to end up with. Good luck on your blanket.

Thank you so much for posting these instructions. I have been trying for so long to find somebody that could explain to me how to crochet a simple afghan and now I can go get started and not have to worry

this is awesome your patterns and explanation is great, as a begiiner i feel i can make anything following your guide again thank you for taking the time to explain, put pictures up and answer questions.

Hi LuAnn, does the chain stitch length stay the same of you crochet the blanket in treble stitch rather than granny stitch? Can a blanket in Queen or King size be made in treble stitch with double knit wool?

You could use a treble stitch rather than a granny stitch if you wanted. Really a treble would work up faster than the double crochets because they end up being "taller". Really when I learned to do the granny stitch from my Mom all those years ago, I was taught to use a treble crochet instead of a double. I guess maybe I changed it to make the holes in the blanket smaller......

Hi! I've been using your pattern and first I wanted to thank you for such awesome instructions. Really made it easy to figure out and get started. My question is, do you ever put a border around this blanket, and if so, what do you do? Thanks!

Thanks for your kind words about my pattern. Sometimes when I write them, I'm not sure if they make sense to anyone besides me so it's always nice to hear. I just used up more of my scraps and put several crochet borders around mine. If you go to my blog post here you can see how it looks. http://easycrochetpattern.blogspot.com/2013/12/granny-stripe-afghan-chart.html

Hello I am hoping to start my temperature blanket in few weeks due to having hand surgery and hoping a few rows a day will be good therapy. Is is safe to just buy one skein of each color? I haven't made an afghan in many years so not really sure. Thanks for the help. This pattern looks fun I'm excited to start when my hand allows.

Thank-you. Very nice and easy pattern. Going to crochet a blanket for my 94 year old mother who has fallen and broken her hip. She's in a nursing home and this will brighten up her room. Thank-you for sharing!!!

I'm new to crocheting and have tried this pattern, which is great. But I'm getting a problem where the crochet starts to curve almost into a circle. What am I doing wrong? I'm trying to keep the tension the same and have tried using a larger hook for the first row then a smaller hook for the subsequent rows but it's still happening.

Thank for this wonderful tutorial! You've made it so clear and it makes sense! Love your method of color change too! Going to frog my original boring double crochet blanket I'm making for my boyfriend and do a coffee themed granny stripe.... Thanks again!!

Another "Thanks!" for this great tutorial. I think yours is the clearest one I've seen for granny stripe. I just finished a two-tone prayer shawl for my church's women's group and it came out beautifully. I've also used it for a scarf for my boyfriend and intend to use it for many other projects.

Hi! Thanks for this tutorial! I'm brand new to crocheting and I have a question. Where it says "double crochet in the same stitch as the chain 3", do you mean I should double crochet into that first chain stitch off my hook? Or the first of the three? Or into the first double crochet directly before the chain three? I'm trying to figure it out from the picture and I can't.

The beginning chain is 3 X (a number) + 2......so for example you can start with 3X 40 + 2 =122. If you scroll to the bottom of this post, I give you a chart with approximate numbers to chain for different sized afghans.

LuAnn, just like another person's comment on here, my piece started to curve also and I don't know why. The first two rows were perfect but the third row with crocheting into the spaces it started to curve. I did a few more rows to see if it would straighten out but no success. This pattern is so pretty and so easy but I don't understand what is going wrong. Tension is the same throughout. It seems a big jump from space to space and that's where it's pulling the piece into a curve. PLEASE HELP!!! lol Thanks so much!

You could always do a chain as Anonymous said. Be sure that if you start the row with one DC you end it with one DC. The next row should start with two DC and end with two DC. This just repeats over and over. If my work starts to curve, it's because I've left out the second DC. And I have a feeling that if you don't correct that then the whole thing could start to curve.

How many rows you do for your bed depends a lot on how tight or loose you crochet and how much of the bed you want to cover. This post gives bed measurements and my best estimate of how many you would chain to start the afghan. http://easycrochetpattern.blogspot.com/2012/10/crochet-granny-stripe-afghan-tutorial.html

Correct. I don't chain in between my clusters so there will be smaller gaps in between. I guess if you wanted to, you could do a chain between each cluster. A lot of my older afghans have that chain 1, and the holes seem huge to me so I tried it this way and like it a lot better.

If you go to this post, you can see how my blanket looks on my king sized bed with just 132 rows. It kind of depends on how far up you want the afghan to come on your bed. http://easycrochetpattern.blogspot.com/2016/01/granny-stripe-as-temperature-afghan.html

Hi! Great tutorial! I am going to try this stitch for a temperature blanket----can't figure out starting stitches....Do I work it lengthwise or width wise? 365 rows is really long.....and I decreased to H hook.....any input would be appreciated! Ty! Beginner crocheter

I wrote a post about my thoughts on using this for a temperature afghan. You can see a photo of my blanket on my king sized bed and just how many rows I have crocheted. http://easycrochetpattern.blogspot.com/2016/01/granny-stripe-as-temperature-afghan.html

I really love the pattern that you created - I took your stitch method and created a slightly different look. The stitches were so easy to do - thanks for creating it!https://www.pinterest.com/sandists/a-new-project/

I have a yarn needle with a large eye, and I weave the ends in that way. I try to take time every 10 or 20 rows to weave those ends in because if I wait until I'm finished with an afghan, sometimes it lays there (for months or maybe even years) before I weave those ends in. You could also cut all of those ends even and make fringe. I have a cat so I don't think the fringe is a good idea here.

I love scrap quilts and afghans, and I've crocheted for a lot of years. I am saving all of my leftover pieces and skeins that I bought with no real purpose, and I'm going to crochet them into some sort of afghan. Glad my instructions helped.

Hi LuAnn ,thks for explaining this douple Crochet Pantern ,i have been Crocheting for 45 yrs.n thank you for doing your Color changes the Old fashion way I was Taught. I Don't like that B.S.Crap.just run the Old Color along the side.thks Tommy S.

There is no row of single crochet at the end. I just kept going with the pattern and then tied the yarn off. Here is a link to my post showing how I did the border on this afghan. http://easycrochetpattern.blogspot.com/2012/12/granny-stripe-afghan-finish.html

Oh my goodness! I was so intimidated to attempt this after failing miserably at Granny squares. After reading this, I tried, AND DID IT! Thank you so much for the perfect pictures and also the easy way to start a new color.